France's Sarkozy to resume campaign after siege ends

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will resume his re-election bid with a public rally on Thursday after police killed a self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda serial killer, his campaign said.

Sarkozy will hold a campaign rally in the northeastern city of Strasbourg at 1700 GMT on Thursday after meeting with top members of his election team in Paris, his campaign said.

Sarkozy and other candidates had suspended campaigning for the April-May presidential election during the 32-hour siege that ended Thursday with suspect Mohamed Merah shot dead by police special forces.

Analysts said that after the incident security was likely to become a major issue in the campaign, so far dominated by the economy and immigration.

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande is leading in polls to win a second-round runoff on May 6 but after initially trailing, Sarkozy has caught up and they are running neck-and-neck for the April 22 first round.